Ravi Agarwal - Down and Out

This is a presentation of 53 photographs by Ravi Agarwal. Most of them were taken in the Indian state of Gujarat in 1997-1999, for publication in the book Down and Out. Labouring under Global Capitalism (authors: Jan Breman, Arvind Das, Brinda Datta, Ravi Agarwal). The photographer and the other authors cooperated closely to create a book in which text and images complement each other. Only a selection of the photographs is shown here.
The pictures show working people in the so-called informal sector of India's economy. They are snapshots of their work experiences - long working hours, difficult work conditions, migration - in a range of industries such as textiles, diamond cutting, sugar manufacturing, brick making, and construction. The pictures are rich in colour and expression, but the reality they depict is stark.
Below you will find thumbnails of (parts of) the photographs, loosely grouped around a number of themes. Click on a thumbnail for a larger image. You can also see a list of larger thumbnails. Loading the larger thumbnails could take some time given their size.
Many thanks to Ravi Agarwal and Jan Breman for their cooperation and kind permission to publish these pictures and texts.